Etna Library: What You’ve Been Missing

I’m a big NO on the subject of New Year’s resolutions because I seldom keep them and they are often self-castigating and dreary. But I’ve just fulfilled a non-dreary resolution that has spanned decades. I recommend this one.

You undoubtedly have one of these places in your own everyday life—that store, building, park, trail, café—that you pass by numerous times and say to yourself, “One of these days I will have to stop in there and check it out.” Last week marked the end of my 24 (!) years of saying just that. Because after a run to the post office and at the suggestion of my husband, we did in fact park the car, find the entrance, and strode through the door of the Etna Library.

And fell immediately in love.

It, and not the Howe, was Hanover NH’s first library, which explains the historic sign hanging outside that says “Town of Hanover Library.” Today the two are separate entities but connected. Same library card. Since the Etna is close to home, it was delightful to learn that I could check out books online from the Howe in Hanover and request a pick-up at the Etna.

But whether or not I (or you) become a patron (there’s a fee as I live in Lebanon and of course I adore and use the Lebanon Library), it would still have been love at first glance. The Etna is tiny, essentially one room with an even smaller annex. It’s old and loves itself for it; it retains an original table and chairs and big wooden desk from the library’s inception in 1905. And it has a clock that needs actual winding to keep telling time.

Local author Jodi Picoult’s books are housed in a special corner cupboard (photo, above.) In an adjacent corner is a similar spot for kids’ classics, and yes, that is a collection of Nancy Drew mysteries (photo, below). The Hardy Boys are also included on a separate shelf.

I could live in this window seat:

There’s a monthly book group, after school crafts activities for kids, a LEGO Builders Club, and an assembly of those who knit. In the not-just-books category is the Spice of the Month Program. I was generously gifted that remaining nutmeg.

Jeff Metzler has been the librarian since October, 2021. Asked to identify the particular charm of the Etna Library, he responded:

“. . . the strengths of the Etna Library come from its history, from its rural setting, and from the way our small size allows us to both be personal and to innovate. . . We get to know our patrons—what kinds of books they like to read, where they're heading on vacation, the names of the family members . . . I've met so many incredible people while working here and it's an honor being able to make available for them the resources of this library.”

And of the antique furnishings?

“I love to think about all the individuals and groups that have gathered at the library around that very table over the last 119 years . . .”

So, whatever it is that you have been driving by, no need to wait—as I did—for twenty-four years. Just . . . stop. And then feel free to tell me about it.

For more information about the Etna Library including hours, click here. For a recent story in the Valley News about how a historic portrait of Hanover resident John Tenney found its way from the Nifty Thrifty Shop in Fishkill, NY to the walls of the Etna Library, click here.

(Outdoor photos by permission of the Etna Library, other photos by Susan B. Apel)

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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.